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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.






2. A portion of the range of the instrument or voice.






3. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






4. Lowest female singing voice.






5. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






6. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.






7. One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo - phrasing - dynamics - and style by gestures and facial expressions.






8. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






9. The distance in pitch between two notes.






10. A musical style characterized as excessive - ornamental - and trivial.






11. Combining a number of individual but harmonizing melodies. Also known as counterpoint.






12. Music of a particular form consisting of four movements. Each of the movements differ in tempo - rhythm - and melody; but are held together by subject and style.






13. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






14. A single line of music played or sung. A musical sentence.






15. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






16. A mild glissando between two notes for an expressive effect.






17. A glissando or portamento. Also refers to the moving part of a trombone.






18. A group singing in unison.






19. A harmonic given off by a note when it is played.






20. The unit of measure where the beats on the lines of the staff are divided up into two - three - four beats to a measure.






21. A composition written for nine instruments.






22. Music that is easy to listen to and understand.






23. The piece of cane in wind instruments. The players cause vibrations by blowing through it in order to produce sound.






24. Time in music history ranging from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th centuries. Characterized by emotional - flowery music; written in strict form.






25. Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.






26. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






27. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






28. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






29. In sheet music - an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.






30. Unmusical - without tone.






31. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






32. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.






33. A composition written for nine instruments.






34. A combination of two or more staves on which all the notes are vertically aligned and performed simultaneously in differing registers and instruments.






35. The keyboard of a stringed instrument.






36. A set of five musicians who perform a composition written for five parts.






37. A quick 20th century dance written in double time.






38. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






39. A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.






40. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






41. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






42. A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.






43. A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance - shown by continuous applause.






44. Two or more voices or instruments playing the same note simultaneously.






45. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






46. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






47. A repeating phrase that is played at the end of each verse in the song.






48. A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.






49. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






50. A person with notable technical skill in the performance of music.







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